Chapter Four

When she opened her eyes the sun was already awake. Awake and directly overhead from the window, nearest right of where she lay on the bed. The sun lingered on the horizon, as if it was waiting for the closing clouds. Rolling onto her back, her muscles screamed, howling underneath the sudden pain from her aching bones. Last night, she'd performed moves she didn't even know she was capable of. Specking of last night, she was rolled onto her stomach from her back now, legs shot up into the air, face cuffed in her hands. Her light brown eyes filled with sunshine at the sight of him. Cardin Crow flashed her a glance, as the sun seemed darker along his features. His gental, rose, colored lips, thinned, completely devoid of emotion. ''Sleep well?'' he asked, smooth, innocent, and gental, as he approached the bed. Their faces inches from one another, as she tried to capture a kiss, though he caught onto what she was doing, and slammed away from the bed. Faith frowned, mind concerned, as she pushed herself to her knees. It was quite early and the sun looked to not have been up for very long, the birds and animals were just beginning to sing, joyously. Faith was thrilled to hear their melodies, but to her surprise, things were about to take a twist. And a bad one at that. She crawled over to the end of the bedside, climbed off, and reclaimed her spot on the floor. Standing, she motioned towards him. Her eyes adjusted to the morning sunlight peeking inside, only when she noticed Cardin was holding something, did she turn her head, questioning.

He was holding his hunter's jacket with one finger. The jacket looked neat, and pressed, almost like he hadn't worn it yet, like this was the first time. Faith expected it, before he pushed the jacket into her, slamming the piece of heavy material at her chest, staring down at it, she frowned. ''What the hell?!'' she hissed, her fingertips gliding down the dark shades of the sleeves. The dark colors of it burned into her mind, as below her feet, sat the silver, weapons belt. She wished with desire, to grab the belt and secure it safely around herself, like she always did, but she couldn't help but notice Cardin staring at her, narrowing his expression, his eyes glued to the middle of his own hunter's jacket. Just that look seemed powerful enough, for her mind was already triggering wonderful memories of last night. His handsome features, his sleeping body pressed against her own, the effects of last night, wouldn't stop from playing over and over again in the walls of her mind. Suddenly she watched as Cardin's honey colored eyes disappeared, only to reappear, brighter.

He was closest to the window now, his skin was golden from the rays of the sunlight peeking, which only brought out the sweet, gental, coloring of his eyes, causing them to glow with the otherworldly beauty displayed by his shirtless structure. ''What do you want me to do with this?'' Faith finally asked eyes drawn to the center of the dark, hunter's jacket. He rose his eyebrows at her, then stretched his arms to the air, yawning as if he still needed sleep. ''I was going to ask you, if you'd wear my jacket.'' he yawned. ''I think you'd look hot in it.'' She couldn't stop her cheeks from turning a bright shade of pink, as the warmth of the jacket pressed into her. Without a second thought, she was slipping the jacket on, placing her arms through the sleeves, and doing up the zipper, which caused a small, squeaky sound, from months without oil. Cardin drew himself across the floor, over to her, till they were pressed against one another, wrapping his arms lovingly, around her waist, his voice drew out in fire filled sentences.

''It fits you perfectly, it comes in either light blue or medium blue, and has a cuffed ankle making it extremely flattering! If you desire another more simple color...'' His voice trailed past her, as she took in every inch of his touch. His hands were rough and calloused, but at the same time, was light and opening. Opening the comforting flow of electricity between them. The smell of him this morning was almost to intoxicating. His hands clamped onto her waist, them moved - one going to cup her cheek, the other sliding between them, this, this was the moment when it was just him doing all the work, nothing between them, as he swept her up in his arms. Pressing his face against her own, as he took this opportunity, his tongue scraped the roof of her mouth, as his fingertips dragged down against her skin, where the jacket hadn't been zipped all the way.

His touch sent a tremor of fire through her, causing her embarrassment as she felt her hormones springing to the surface. She seemed to have lost all control of herself, once she felt the pain of his scars, brushing against her long, thin, fingertips. This forced her to pause, stepping back, breaking the wonder she so desired. Cardin exhaled a slow, soft, voice, as his words stabbed into her, more than he'd planned. ''Why can I just touch you without you seeing...horrible things...'' He asked as the sudden silence between them grew uncomfortable. His lips brushed past her cheek, and she knew it was over.

''I"m sorry,''' She whispered, eyes drawn to the floor, unable to look at the disappointment behind his eyes. She watched him grab his shirt, pants, and weapons belt from the edge of the bed, but before leaving, he turned to face her, for the last time she thought. He just brushed her lips with his, moving to the side of her jaw, taking in the scent of her neck, mouth, then before she could react, his hand gripped the silver, squeaky, zipper, and he pulled it all the way to the top. Then he truly turned around, leaving her, motionless, in the middle of her chambers, wondering to herself why.

* * *

Who is he? Who is this man covered in burns, covered in so much blood? She could barely make out his features under the charcoal, and crimson. How could anyone be so perfect, but mostly how could anyone hold so much desire inside them, and still have nobody to give it all too? Well, Cardin Crow was his name.

Once she was washed and dressed, she left the sorrows behind of the previous events, of late last night. As she made her way, eagerly, to the dinning hall, she swore to herself, as her nostrils still burned with the scent of him. The smell of caramel and honey, left dancing along her tongue. Left to dance up a storm against her features. Left to dance up a tornado against the beating drums of her heartbeat.

They'd tangled in love. Merged in destiny. Loved then left go. No one will ever know how the events of that night, changed her. How every touch of him, left patches of warmth against her cream colored skin. Exploded and uncovered, she loved every minuet of that night. The touch of his body against her own, the patches of darkness cleared by the light of his smile, caramel drizzle, and vanilla ice cream, how she graved the last few hours, again. Even if it meant it'd be the last. Carefully and easily, she brushed past a few teens, they were laughing with one another, crowed around one another, as if the world hadn't been taken, right before their young eyes. Faith was glad to see they were engaging in some normal-see, but a part of her wished, no a part of her graved to have one more minuet with normal-see herself. Each of them were dressed in different shades of the same hunter's jacket. Most of the girls she could make out, were dressed in bright, or violet shades of purple, accompanied by a black pair of soft feeling, pants. As for the few guys she could see, there jackets were bright indigo, accompanied by snow, white, comfortable, fitting, pants. A few of them had noticed her staring at them, to which she replied.

''What're you all doing?! There's hunting to be done, get a move on!'' She didn't mean for it to sound as bad as it did, but a part of her was glad for it. She was the commander here, the leader, she had to make sure everyone knew that. Even if they didn't respect her. A boy with fluffy, black hair, held a smile on his face, as he got up from the table, eager to keep up with his group, till he caught her dead in the eyes. ''Apologies, commander, we were simply awaiting your order,'' he said. His light blue eyes searched the confidence behind her voice, till two boys around the same age as him, crept up behind him. He seemed to have noticed them, before they could proceed with what ever it was they had planned for him. The fluffy haired boy, scowled at them both, once he turned around, leading Faith to approach them all. She placed her hands tight, on her hips, securing her weapons belt.

''You two should've left with the first group, at sun up?! What the hell are you still doing here?!'' After a couple seconds of silence, near footprints at her exhaling in annoyance, as another boy, joined the group. He held a cocky expression Faith despised, as he stared at her with the ugliest of eye colors she'd ever seen on a male before. ''Come on, commander,'' he purred, trying to sound sexy, like somewhere in his mind, he thought his actions would somehow seduce her. ''Why don't you let my friends off the hook, I swear to you their reasons were very important.''

''Kale, I"m going to stop you right there! Listen here, you are a cocky little prick, who's dick is smaller than his brain! Now listen and listen good! The next time you try to feed me that getting drunks with your little buddies, is more important than feeding this camp, you'd better think twice, unless,'' she paused, a powerful smile appearing on her face. ''Unless, you want your small penis to become microscopic! Think about what I said here today, and you might just be able to wheeze yourself onto my good side.'' She turned on her heel, leaving Kale's jaw dropped, dust leaving a trail of footprints behind her, as she walked away. ''Commander! Hey, commander!'' Faith rolled her dark eyes, as she turned, the sight of Valerian, filling her vision. He was holding a innocent smile on his face, just like the one she'd used yesterday afternoon. His silver hair was done up behind him, in a messy, small, ponytail. She could see two long, silver, bands, securing the hair together. She crossed her arms to the front of the hunter's jacket, as she said. ''I'm happy to see you've decided to take up on my advice,.'' She complimented, once she saw he'd finally taken up her advice about managing long hair. ''Yeah, it works great!'' Valerian replied. His smile however seemed to fade the moment he took in what it was she was wearing. ''A hunter's jacket? Does that mean we're going out again?'' he asked. ''Um, I have-I haven't decided yet,'' she stammered trying to rid herself of the sudden anxiety she felt running wild.

''All right, well, that's fine, we can decide on the way,'' he smiled.

''On the way? On the way where?''

''Oh you don't remember, me and you got stationed for cooking duty! I tried to tell you last night, but your chambers were locked. So, I waited.....and...'' Valerian's voice trailed off, fading from sight, as he stopped walking, forcing Faith to stop in front of him, the realization hitting her like a bag of bricks. Her head felt like static, and the drums inside her, grew to loud, any thought she was trying to conquer was much to quite for her to be able to make out. ''Valerian, I-''

''You smell really nice today, kind of like caramel.....'' His cool touch on her wrist, calmed her this time, pulling the reeling emotions and chaotic thoughts, but the frightened, chaotic thoughts only seemed to ease for a moment, till she felt herself shaking. Shaking like she was cold, which was nearly impossible seeing as one important aspect of the hunters's jackets was warmth. ''So, you let my brother touch you, but you turned me down, every time I was there for you? Every time you were thinking of your parents, every time you just needed a friend?! You'd rather fuck my brother, than share my company?'' Valerian hissed, his voice bristling as his anger was that of unfounded. She wanted to say something, anything to fix this, but her voice just wouldn't come out, this time, it didn't wish to escape. It didn't, and the rage and fury, brought tears to her eyes. ''Forget it,'' Valerian breathed. ''It's none of my business, your the commander which means you can fuck who ever you like, and we're not allowed to say anything about it.'' He brushed a fist pull of silver hair, past his face, re-adjusting it so it was perfectly placed back behind his ear, then he turned and walked off. Faith wanted to reach out for him, to get him back, to talk with him, but the sun was already at its brightest, meaning if she didn't hurry, all the supplies she meant to gather would become much harder to see, especially with it being nighttime shortly... As much as it pained her, deeply, there was work to be done. After all it was about survival. And surviving was most importantly, these days.

The connection between them had once so strong....capable of flowing hot energy into the planet's core. How bright their electrical fuse had once been....now that fuse had never looked so corrupted and black...

****

My mind was like a thousand pieces of shattered glass, impossible to make whole again. The spider screamed, a long pericing high pitched scream which shattered and scattered the voices of friends of the spider. Everything was lost to me the moment everything became so screwed up. Why did I become the spider in this situation, destined to have everyone run from me, because of a lost hope, I can never desire, powerfully. If I had none this was how everything was going to end for me, maybe I would've been smarter, to control my desire. In this new world, there's no room to desire.

''I need the flashlight from you,'' Faith hissed, anger consuming her drum sounded heart, as she grabbed the light from the shy, innocent, volunteer to her left. Valerian and Cardin were nowhere to be found, but she knew work still needed to get finished, as painful as it was, she had to go into the forest, hopeful to hunt, to locate supplies, with a harmless volunteer, named Alias.The look of Alias Vincent, the look of experience surrounding hair fair, light skin, caused Faith to study him, especially because somewhere deep in those metallic, silver, eyes, there was desire for danger, a dangerous invitation he was eager to play with anyone who wanted. HE had a quality of masculine confidence that was a thousand times greater than hers, Valerian, or even Cardin's. She was having trouble keeping the hurt she felt, from flashing in and out of her vision, she;d entered the forest with a cool, collected head, calming breaths, though now, she was surrounded by nothing but darkness, darkness and depression. A part of her felt suffocated. Intoxicating, like any moment her lungs would come detached from her chest, and in seconds, she's lose to the taste of death plaguing her for years. She felt as thought a hand grasped her stomach, squeezing so hard, her eyes burned, as sweat dripped down her cheeks. Attracting the freezing cold winds, to drool heat or sweat from the ends of her ears. The cold chill she felt crept up her spine, raising the hair on the back of her neck, sending signals up and down her entire body, the forest was colder than normal, the rustling of pine trees against one another, created a faint, melting, that surrounded her and Alias, as his soft, gental eyes, turned to hers. Without a glimpse of hesitation, she loaded a arrow into her bow, then with a cool breath, she let the arrow fly. She watched it strike past the metal wiring of the wooden bow, only to disappear past the huge of dark statues.

She walked slowly a few feet forward, taking in everything around her, from the patches of blue sky visible above her, from the trees, to the spring flowering sprinkling along the forest path she walked. Alias reached a soft, chilling, hand out to her, but instead she stayed where she was, frozen, but alert, her voice brushing past the two of them. ''Keep where you are, otherwise you might get hit.'' Her voice was piercing his insides, stabbing at him, like the sharpened hilt of her own decorative dagger. A breeze swept above the top of the trees, forcing them to sway in movement. The left side of the open forest was darker in shape then the right, though she could still the see the left side, visibly, capturing her gaze for a moment, till she slid herself across the green floor, floating in the shocking cold, gold, she oriented herself to the darkness, till something soft, and tight, came at her from behind, chocking her, suffocating, and tearing at her neck.

Her lips quivered with fear, as a sob threatened to chock off her voice, but before she could even think to try and struggle as the person responsible, she looked to the corner, spoting Alias. She tired to shout something to him, anything that would capture his attention, but every attempt she tried to make, was equality as terrible as the next, for she was forced to watch, helpless, and fear nibbling away at her, as she watched a second strange attacked him, turning him away, till he was gagging, chocking for breath. Faith stilled at the tip of a blade, slicing parts of the skin around her neck, as her head twisted, hands held in the air, in surrender. She froze as the scent of something freezing, freezing cold, but sweet all the same, till another hand, much stronger this time, pulled her head back, with her eyes directed to the sky, the person grabbed onto her shoulder, pressing into her with all its weight, till she was being pushed down to her knees, her knees gave out, buckling first, then with nothing but urges to fight, she surrender.

The attacker grabbed her arm, tight, pulling her into a whole new direction. Forcing her, she sat up, only to come to the light with a throbbing head. Then she felt arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her into his arms, as she tried to push her body from him. Her vision was foggy, half cleared, the rest submerged with smoke and the scent of burning wood. She gripped a soft, unfamiliar fabric, tightening what she could feel into a small ball, till she heard the voice of the unfamiliar attacker. ''Release my shirt, little bird.'' The voice was soft, almost comforting, but she knew she couldn't trust that. Suddenly she released her grip on the material, and swept back, eyelids forced to close, desiring sweet sleep, as she laid there, peaceful, with arms all around her, with the sharp edge of her bow and arrow, dragging across the forest ground, from her wobbly, fingertips. Next thing she knew she was falling. But something had her. Captured her. She veered to one side, eager to escape his grip, till his words thawed her. ''You won't remember any of this once you awake,'' he'd promised. That smooth and oh so gentle voice, how it melted the terror eating away at her, it was as if she was always destined to hear such warmth. ''Know one thing, I am not the type of man who leaves young woman alone, to die in the forest. I promise to watch over you.''

''You're way...to close....get away...'' Faith growled, grinding her teeth as she growled. But with tired eyes and zero amounts of energy remaining, somehow, she'd been able to grab onto him. Squeezing as hard as she could muster, forcing a painful grunt to escape him. Then she felt the hard, dirt, ground underneath her again. ''Please!'' he suddenly shouted. Dark colors and shades blurred her vision, swimming in and out of her focus, till she was begging with him to let her go. Pained as she felt the harsh bite of pressure returning, gnawing at her muscles, she picked up on a second voice. A female's voice. ''Venus? This one might be tricker than I first thought.''

Veuns? Who was that? Could she be the one responsible for trying to choke Alias? In the end, she'd managed to render him unconsious, how the sight of him being choked unconscious, boiled her blood. But before she could even think to try and do something about it, she found her arms were being restrained behind her back. The colors and shades she saw only seemed to worsen as the tightness grew within the skin. She could smell the scent of his skin just below where her mouth was, as she began biting her own lips, nervously. The taste of lavender and oak surrounded the corners of her lips in such a way, at first she wasn't too sure she wanted them to disappear. As her ears concreted on the sounds of her own struggles of pain, she managed to free one arm, as she began yanking and pulling. With this the powerful wind grew in power, tears were beginning to weld up in both corners of her brown eyes.

''Not so fast!'' Instantly she was thrown, pinned to the floor, the girl was faster than her, immobilizing her without a second's thought how she'd do it. But if there was one thing she thrived in, was her smarts. Seeing the opening, she rolled herself over, managing to get on top of the girl. ''Get off me!'' the girl shouted, then Faith saw stars. In horrible waves of pain, she felt something warm and sticky rolling down from the side of her face. Trying hard to keep focus she felt the tightness behind her, loosen, as she remained on her knees. ''Just calm down,'' he ordered. ''Stop trying to fight us, you're only hurting yourself further!'' Grabbing her waist for the second time, her heels dragged through the dirt. The way he grabbed onto her, shaking her, as if her body contained no amount of bones or organs, like she was more of a snow globe or some form of object. ''You're going to use up all your energy if you don't listen to me! Stop and just hear us out!'' he snapped.

''Maybe if you'd consider being more gentle, I'd consider stopping!'' Those words ran out of her like a sharp dagger. Her head spun to the right of her, eyes burning. Her body graved to sleep, but her mind commanded. She was far from finish. One last time, she managed to cause him to scream, when she curled two of her fingers over his nose. Pinching and squeezing with as much force, till he was grunting, struggling harder for release. ''You-you, you don't understand,'' he breathed through breath fulls of pain. Faith was hearing nothing he said but the electrifying sensation, prickling up and down along her spine, Restrained, he motioned his gaze towards her, eyes meeting, as drawn kindness was spotted behind his violet eyes. His hard jaw line, those dimples all along his nose and cheeks, for a moment, she tried to swallow the bile building in her throat, as silent crippled the handsome strange before her. ''You're going to be alright,'' he whispered. Coking her head, confusion then deseat shot up her chest A similar strong pair of arms grabbed her from behind. Gritting her teeth through the harsh pulls, holding her breath, her knees were the first things to collapse. Then she was on the dirt floor again.

Before passing out, she felt the touch of her handsome stranger running fingers of fire, down her newfound bruises. ''She's hurt, and really badly too!''

''Well? That's what she's gets for trying to take on advanced fighters such as ourselves.''

''Shut it, Venus.'' he growled. ''This is not how this was supposed to go.....it shouldn't have lead up to battle.....''

''But it did?! Who cares! Just grab her and let's go already!''